Australia’s shortage of air-traffic controllers is showing signs of nearing a breaking point after the country’s busiest airport recorded at least four near misses in the past month.
Since late July, incidents at Sydney Airport included a passenger jet aborting its takeoff because there was a plane in its path. In a separate close call, an aircraft that was taxiing had to slam on the brakes to avoid colliding with another jet.
Short-staffed control towers have long been a problem globally, but nowhere is the urgency of the matter more on display recently than in Australia. The growing number of incidents is pressing the need for authorities worldwide to crank up hiring and adopt new tools like artificial intelligence.
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